(2020-03-04). WATCH: Fistfight breaks out in Turkish parliament after lawmaker lashes out at Erdogan over Idlib soldier deaths. rt.com 
Turkey's parliament descended into a chaotic fistfight after an opposition lawmaker accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of disrespecting Turkish soldiers killed recently in Idlib, Syria. | During a closed session about the country's operations in Idlib, opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) member Engin Ozkoc said Erdogan disrespected the dead troops and had also acted irresponsibly by sending them into conflict without air cover. | The accusations quickly escalated into a huge brawl inside the chamber between government and opposition politicians, with punches thrown and lawmakers slapping and kicking…
(2020-03-04). 'Turks are our brotherly people,' no reason for them to die in Syria — President Assad. rt.com 
Turks and Syrians are culturally intertwined and have no reason to be hostile towards each other, Bashar Assad said as violence escalates in Idlib. He said there is no reason for Turkish people to die in Syria. | "We talk about Turks as our brotherly people," the Syrian president said in an interview with a Russian news channel. "I am asking the Turkish people: what is your problem with Syria? What is the problem over which Turkish citizens need to die?" | He added that the two nations were bound through culture; there are many ethnic Turks living in Syria and vice versa, as well as cross-ethnic marriages. | T…
(2020-03-04). 'You met Al-Qaeda's medical staff': US envoy to UN takes heat after proudly greeting notorious White Helmets. rt.com 
Colorful images of Ambassador Kelly Craft enthusiastically shaking hands with 'White Helmets' members made rounds online, with users reminding the diplomat of their connections to a jihadi group the US once fought against. | Craft, who serves as the US Ambassador to the United Nations, showed up at the Turkey-Syrian border, posing with members of the self-described "civil defense group." She didn't come empty-handed, though, promising a hefty $108-million "humanitarian support package" intended for the people of northern Syria. | "Grateful to shake the hands of the brave men and women of the #whitehelmets," Ke…
(2020-03-04). On the eve of Putin-Erdogan meeting in Moscow, where is the Idlib crisis at? rt.com 
This is what the situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone looks like right before the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, scheduled for March 5. | There are currently five Turkish battalion task force teams operating in Idlib, consisting of 4,700 troops, 129 artillery guns and mortars, and 15 multiple rocket launchers (MRLs). The Turkish force's combat capabilities are bolstered by artillery reconnaissance, electronic warfare units, along with multiple reconnaissance and much-feared combat drones. | Significant losses : | These combat drones caused…
(2020-03-04). Russia hopes Putin, Erdogan can agree joint measures at Syria talks, Kremlin says. rt.com 
The Kremlin has said it hopes Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be able to agree on a set of joint measures for the Syrian province of Idlib when they meet for talks in Moscow on Thursday. | "We plan to discuss the Idlib crisis," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "We expect to reach a common understanding on the crisis, the cause of the crisis, the harmful effects of the crisis and arrive at a set of necessary joint measures." | Erdogan reiterated on Wednesday that he expects his talks with Putin this week to result in the rapid achievement of a ceasefire in n…
(2020-03-04). Tehran has 'no obligation' to let UN nuclear watchdog into certain sites — envoy. rt.com 
Iran has no obligation to grant the UN's nuclear watchdog access to sites in Iran when it deems that requests are based on "fabricated information," Iran's ambassador to the UN in Vienna said Wednesday. | "Intelligence services' fabricated information… creates no obligation for Iran to consider such requests," said a statement from Kazem Gharib Abadi. | It came a day after a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in which it reprimanded Iran for refusing access to two sites which diplomats believe could be connected to the country's nuclear activity. Gharib Abadi also accused the US and Is…
(2020-03-04). Few are as elated at Biden's 'historic comeback' as Putin's self-proclaimed arch-enemy McFaul. rt.com 
Joe Biden is pretty much Rocky Balboa delivering a blow after blow to Ivan Drago — at least in the eyes of his devoted fans. Just ask Michael McFaul, who served as ambassador to Moscow back when Biden was the VP.
(2020-03-04). Headlines for March 4, 2020. democracynow.org Bernie Sanders Wins California as Joe Biden Sweeps the South on Super Tuesday, GOP's Jeff Sessions Faces Runoff in Bid to Reclaim Alabama Senate Seat, Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar Narrowly Beats Progressive Challenger Jessica Cisneros, San Diego Progressive Georgette Gómez to Face Billionaire Heiress Sara Jacobs for CA House Seat, Health Officials Warn Coronavirus Is Far Deadlier Than the Flu, Syrian Forces Recapture Strategic City as Turkey Shoots Down Syrian Warplane, Iranian Security Forces Killed 23 Children During November Protests, At Least 24 Killed as Tornadoes Lash Central Tennessee, Wells Fargo Says It Won'
(2020-03-04). Video: Syrian Armed Forces Teach '2nd Strongest NATO Army' Painful Lesson in Idlib. globalresearch.ca Units of the Russian Military Police entered the town of Saraqib in eastern Idlib following the second liberation of the town from al-Qaeda terrorists and Turkish forces. According to the Russian military, the deployment took place at 5: 00pm local time …
(2020-03-04). Russia Denies Responsibility for Humanitarian Crisis in Idlib. telesurenglish.net Russia and Syria are not responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Idlib, a province in the northwestern part of the country, nor for the displacement of millions of people from that territory to Turkey, Russian authorities said on Tuesday. | RELATED: | The head of the Russian Centre for Reconciliation of the Parties to the Conflict in Syria, Oleg Zhuravlyov, claimed that the Russian troops were not responsible for the crisis,…
(2020-03-04). Amid Syrian war, Turkey opens borders for Syrian refugees to travel to Europe. wsws.org The persecution of asylum seekers in Turkey and Greece—which fight with each other over the flow of immigrants—is the product of the EU's brutal policies.
(2020-03-04). Spectre of 2015 Migrant Crisis? Syrian Refugees 'Weaponised' to Incite EU Border Tensions — Prof. sputniknews.com Tensions escalating on the Turkish-Greek border could have been orchestrated by Turkey to impose pressure on the EU and the UN to resolve the Idlib stalemate, suggests Canadian academic and migration expert Anna Triandafyllidou.
(2020-03-04). Assad Calls Differences With Ankara 'Illogical': Syria Has Not Been Hostile Toward Turkey. sputniknews.com Ankara and Damascus have been embroiled in clashes for several months amid a deteriorating situation in Idlib – the last stronghold of jihadists in Syria. Turkey attacked Syrian forces in February after a Turkish military outpost in Idlib was hit by the Syrian Army, resulting in an escalation of the conflict.
(2020-03-04). South Korea Summons Singapore Ambassador Over Coronavirus-Related Travel Ban – Reports. sputniknews.com MOSCOW (Sputnik) – South Korea's Foreign Ministry has summoned Singapore's ambassador in Seoul to lodge a complaint about a blanket ban on South Koreans entering Singapore due to coronavirus concerns, the Yonhap news agency said on Wednesday.
(2020-03-04). UN dispatches humanitarian aid to war-stricken Syria. yenisafak.com The UN on Wednesday dispatched 53 truckloads of humanitarian aid to Idlib, an embattled Syrian province.The trucks passed through the Cilvegozu border gate in Turkey's southern Hatay province.The aid will be distributed among residents in urban areas of northwestern Idlib, as well as the surrounding countryside, which have been subject to years of devastating attacks by the Assad regime and its allies, triggering a wave of some one million refugees.Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests.Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have…
(2020-03-04). 'Turkey in Idlib in accordance with international law'. yenisafak.com The Turkish Armed Forces conduct its activities in northwestern Syrian province of Idlib in accordance with international law, rules and agreements signed, Turkish national defense minister said on Wednesday.Hulusi Akar said Operation Spring Shield targeted the Assad regime troops and its elements under legitimate self defense.Turkey launched the operation on Sunday after at least 34 Turkish soldiers were martyred in an Assad regime airstrike in Idlib.Idlib, just across Turkey's southern border, falls within a de-escalation zone laid out in a deal between Turkey and Russia in late 2018.But the Syrian regime and i…
(2020-03-04). Libyan gov't decries handing embassy in Syria to Haftar. yenisafak.com The UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) on Wednesday denounced Syria's decision to hand over the Libyan Embassy in Damascus to the "government" of east Libya-based renegade commander Khalifa Haftar. | In a statement, the GNA's Foreign Ministry said the handover "violates UN Security Council resolution prohibiting dealing with any parallel bodies to the GNA, which is the only legitimate government in the country". | The Tripoli-seated ministry stressed that the move was "a violation of the sovereignty of the Libyan state". | On Tuesday, the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad reopened the Libyan Embassy…
(2020-03-03). US 'willing' to give Turkey ammo amid Ankara's military standoff with Syrian army in Idlib. rt.com 
Washington is ready to supply NATO ally Turkey with ammunition amid mounting tensions in Idlib, where Ankara is in an open conflict with Syrian government forces. | The promise was made by US Special Representative for Syria James Jeffrey, who visited Turkey's border province of Hatay on Tuesday. | "Turkey is a NATO ally" and mostly uses US-made military hardware, Jeffrey pointed out. | We're willing to provide — for example, the President [Donald Trump] mentioned this — ammunition. | The US "will make sure that that equipment is ready. As a NATO partner we share information intelligence… and we a…
(2020-03-03). Video: Syrian Army Recaptures Saraqib from Erdogan Forces as Syrian-Turkish Conflict in Idlib Intensifies. globalresearch.ca Turkey and Syria are in a state of undeclared war. Ankara shied away to declare the war officially and the scale of its operations is much lower than in the event of a full-scale open conflict. However, Turkish forces, including …
(2020-03-03). UN 'determined to stand by the people of Syria' says Lowcock, as grave humanitarian crisis intensifies around Idlib. news.un.org The United Nations is "determined to stand by" civilians across Syria's war-torn northwest, as "a grave humanitarian crisis" continues, the UN emergency relief chief said on Tuesday.
(2020-03-03). Turkey in Syria: Down a Blind Alley in an Unwinnable War? globalresearch.ca Fighting in northern Syria has escalated as Syrian forces retake the last remaining bastions of foreign-funded militants and encircle, cut-off, and in some cases catch in the crossfire their Turkish backers. | Turkey had been making some promising steps in the …
(2020-03-03). Washington-led NATO's War on Syria and Syrians. globalresearch.ca Washington-led NATO and their allies support all of the terrorists in Syria, hence, the terrorists are appropriately named NATO terrorists. NATO has command and control (1) of all of the terrorists. Turkey, currently in the limelight for its supreme criminality, …
(2020-03-02). As children freeze to death in Syria, aid officials call for major cross-border delivery boost. news.un.org Humanitarian assistance needs to be scaled up significantly to more than a million people displaced by fighting in northwest Syria, a senior UN aid official said on Monday, amid reports that children are freezing to death on the Turkish border.
(2020-03-02). Did Turkey Just Sacrifice Their Own Troops to Protect Al-Qaeda? dissidentvoice.org After 33 Turkish troops were killed in a Syrian army offensive on February 27 amidst the current Russia-backed campaign to liberate Idlib, Erdogan responded by laying the blame entirely on Russia and Syria — successfully avoiding all mention of the uncomfortable fact that Turkey has been protecting radical terror networks not only in Idlib but …
(2020-03-02). Iran and Hezbollah warn Turkey: all your forces are in our line of fire. iranian.com The Iranian Advisory Center in Syria, which takes part in the fighting in northern Syria, issued a press release through the news agency U-News in reaction to the recent confrontation between the Syrian army and the Turkish army. It should be noted that the Iranian Advisory Center is made up of the group of Iranian …
(2020-02-28). Catastrophic Humanitarian Crisis in Idlib as Syrian Troops Advance & Children Freeze to Death. democracynow.org 
In Syria, 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in an airstrike by Russia-backed Syrian forces in rebel-held Idlib in a major escalation on Thursday. Turkey has vowed to respond in kind, as U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres calls for an immediate ceasefire, saying "the risk of even greater escalation grows by the hour." Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly spoke by phone on Friday to discuss the crisis, as NATO urged rapid deescalation. The all-out offensive by the Syrian government is the single largest displacement in a nine-year war that has forced 13 million t…
(2020-02-28). Doctors Without Borders: Cheap Coronavirus Diagnostic Kits Needed in War-Torn Areas & Refugee Camps. democracynow.org 
Across the U.S., officials report a severe shortage of test kits for coronavirus. New York officials say they're preparing their own kits, after kits distributed by the Centers for Disease Control failed validation tests. Meanwhile, new cases of coronavirus continue to spring up worldwide, with Nigeria reporting its first case and one of Iran's vice presidents testing positive. We discuss how MSF USA, or Doctors Without Borders USA, is responding to coronavirus, with the organization's executive director, Avril BenoàÆt.
(2020-02-28). Headlines for February 28, 2020. democracynow.org California Monitoring 8,400 People for Coronavirus as Fears of Pandemic Grow, Syrian Airstrike Kills 33 Turkish Soldiers in Idlib, Escalating Tensions, New Justice Department Task Force Seeks to Strip Naturalized Immigrants of Citizenship, Joe Biden's Campaign Walks Back False Claims of Arrest in 1970s South Africa, Democratic Superdelegates Overwhelmingly Oppose Bernie Sanders Campaign, Mike Bloomberg Refuses to Apologize for Spying on Muslims, As NYC Mayor, Mike Bloomberg Called for Cuts to Social Security "Ponzi Scheme", ProPublica: Mike Bloomberg Advised Billionaire Sackler Family on Opioid Crisis, Emails Sho…
(2020-02-28). Syria: UN urges Russia and Turkey to secure 'fresh ceasefire' as risk of military escalation grows. news.un.org With the Security Council meeting in emergency session on Syria following the death on the battlefield of dozens of Turkish troops, the UN strongly urged Russia and Turkey on Friday "to build on previous agreements to secure a fresh ceasefire" across the war-torn northwest.
(2020-02-28). 'Mayhem' in Syria's Idlib amid ongoing violence, as Guterres urges immediate ceasefire. news.un.org Rapidly escalating conflict in northwest Syria has created healthcare "mayhem", amid reports of displaced people moving closer to the Turkish border in search of shelter, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, as the UN Secretary-General appealed for all warring parties to "step back from the edge of further escalation."
(2020-02-28). Turkey, Russia tiptoe toward 'unnecessary war'. iranian.com A military confrontation between Turkey and Syria has erupted in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib. Latest reports say that at least 34 Turkish soldiers were killed on Thursday in a Syrian air attack. A Turkish retaliation commenced last night itself. The Syrian airstrike in Idlib took place in an area between the towns Baluon and …
(2020-02-27). Syrian journalist corrects the record on mainstream media's absurd Idlib coverage. thegrayzone.com Red Lines host Anya Parampil speaks with Syrian journalist Bashar Bazari, who works as a correspondent for HispanTV in Damascus….
(2020-02-26). Headlines for February 26, 2020. democracynow.org CDC Warns of "Severe" Disruption to Daily Life in U.S. as Coronavirus Spreads, DHS Secretary Grilled over Coronavirus Preparedness as Trump Downplays Risks, Two Billionaires Join Democratic Debate in SC as Rivals Target Bernie Sanders, At Least 24 Killed in India After Hindu Nationalists Attack Muslim Demonstrators, President Trump Wraps India Trip with Praise for $3.5 Billion Weapons Deal, 20 Civilians Killed in Syria's Idlib as the Red Cross Pleads for a Ceasefire, Airwars Reports U.S.-Led Strikes Killed Up to 139 Somali Civilians Since 2007, Supreme Court Rules Border Patrol Agents Who Shoot into Mexico Can't…
(2020-02-20). Turkey Kills Over 50 Syrian Troops, Russian Warplanes Intervene to Halt Offensive. theantimedia.com Russia called the situation a "worst case scenario."
(2020-02-07). Russia Says Israel Used Civilian Plane as Human Shield During Syria Strikes. theantimedia.com Russia accused Israel of "making a total mockery of the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians."
(2020-02-06). Turkey Gives Assad Deadline to Pull Back or Face Military Action. theantimedia.com Turkey has given the Syrian government until the end of this month to withdraw from recently seized territory in Idlib province.